5/1/10
Greetings to all,
Just back from a memorable birding trip south and in anticipation of experiencing the influx of new arrivals locally, I went to Rosa Hartman Park this morning from 6:00 am - 7:30 am, actually hoping to see some kind of fall-out like what occurred over Belvedere Castle in Central Park Friday morning or even the mini-event I had early that same morning while camping out of state...that is, birds suddenly appearing and diving into trees left and right although not as concentrated as at Bluff Point and along the coast on some autumn days. I didn't witness anything like that today, however, there was still a lot of activity mainly in a group of trees right along the parking lot. In fact, there were so many birds it was impossible to keep track - and see them all in the short period of time there. At one point, it seemed more reasonable to focus on one area as birds were furiously flitting back and forth; there was always something new that came into sight. Highlight (for me) was a single male Blackburnian Warbler. I later went to Bartlett Arboretum and it was not only much warmer but also pretty quiet, so from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm I went back over to Rosa Hartman knowing there had been birds there earlier (hoping to relocate the Blackburnian) and was not disappointed. I found the Blackburnian again, although in a different location as the birds had dispersed, thanks to a signing male Scarlet Tanager who was on the same branch (and a total of 3 tanagers in that same tree).
Highlights from Rosa Hartman Park in Stamford:
Common Loon (overhead)
Flock of 8 Ibis flying north in V-formation, reasonably low (3 pm)
Chimney Swift - all observed moving through early morning; several remaining overhead afternoon
Red-eyed Vireo (1)
Solitary (Blue-headed) Vireo (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1)
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush (1)
Northern Parula (1)
Yellow Warbler (1)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (1)
Blackburnian Warbler (1 male)
Black-throated Green warbler (4-5)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (many)
Pine Warbler (3 male; 1 female who was bathing in the stream) - three males started chasing each other and were really going at it as they made contact and came tumbling down the hillside together landing practically at my feet - some bird fight!
Black-and-white Warbler (3; one observed at very close-range while preening after bathing in the stream - a real beauty)
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Waterthrush (1) just off the bridge
Ovenbird (2 heard)
Scarlet Tanager (2 male, 1 female)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female seen well, male heard singing)
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrows - numbers seemed to have declined
Chipping Sparrows - no shortage of these
Catbirds - have been back for a week
Baltimore Orioles are finally back and brighter than ever (4)
I also heard from Patrick Dugan who mentioned he and the morning birdwalk group had Prairie and Palm Warblers (any others PD?) making that 13 for Rosa Hartman.
Better than Disneyland!
Brenda Inskeep